By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Assembly members agreed Thursday that a new marine haulout is an urgent need, and although no vote was taken, went along with the Gary Paxton Industrial Park’s plan to work on a request for proposals for a combination public-private project.
The 6 p.m. special meeting of the Assembly was held specifically to work on the haulout issue, which has become a pressing matter since the McGraw company announced it will close Sitka’s only public boat haulout facility next year and convert the space to cruise ship-related business.
Interim city administrator Hugh Bevan stated the city’s goals keeping a vital service available in Sitka:
“The haulout system should conveniently and efficiently serve Sitka’s commercial and sport fishing fleet. Number two, the haulout system should be operated by the private sector and not the city... and number three the system must be operational by May 2021.”
City officials have identified the city-owned Gary Paxton Industrial Park as the site for a new facility.
Mayor Gary Paxton spoke in favor of releasing a request for proposals.
“We do an RFP and we let the elephants dance,” he said. He said he believes the project can’t be done without private sector participation.
“What I don’t think we can do is, as a city build, take over, do all the work, spend seven or eight million dollars to do the perfect haulout. I don’t know how we could do that.”
Briefing materials set the projected cost of the haulout to be about $7.5 million.
Assembly member Richard Wein said he believes city funding would be needed for any haulout project.
“This is not (initially) going to be a money maker. And it’s kind of like the Alaska Marine Highway where it’s a necessary service and we need to understand at the outset that we need to make an investment to get it going,” Wein said.
GPIP Executive Director Garry White said a combined approach could be used.
“We could start with the private sector development (via RFP) and if that doesn’t work come back and try to do it ourselves,” White told the Assembly.
Ideas for funding ranged from private investment to loans. Another issue that came up at the meeting was ownership of the land, currently city property.
By the end of the meeting, Paxton said that “I think we’ve agreed a long-term lease is the way to go.”
Assembly member Kevin Knox agreed. “We need to go out on an RFP and explore the options there but also run a concurrent exploration on our own to be able to look at what does this take on the public end. I am personally not all that comfortable having the lands leave city hands.”
City attorney Brian Hanson said, “If you sell the property, use covenants are problematic, that can be enforced. So be careful with that, you should probably get some legal advice.”
Assembly member Thor Christianson noted that the GPIP Board had already voted to put out an RFP. This would be written by Bevan, then reviewed by the park board and the Assembly before being put out for offers.
“The GPIP board already voted to put this out to RFP... We don’t have to do a vote on this or anything since they’ve already voted,” Christianson said.
“This RFP will give us some ideas,” Paxton said.
Bevan noted that any proposal needed to include “a plan to own and operate a marine haulout system, including a description of the equipment and a proposed fee schedule... We need minimum specifications for this haulout machine.”
He said he hoped to have proposals in hand by late March so that construction could be done next year.
Wein said construction of a new haulout is an urgent need.
“We’re investing in ourselves,” he said, “and I think if we don’t care for our fleet, the Permanent Fund isn’t going to be so permanent.”
The mayor said that a public-private partnership could provide a successful model.
“I think the city has the capacity to provide some funds in terms of public-private partnership,” Paxton said.
Speaking with the Sentinel after the meeting, White stressed the importance of having a haulout to service the fishing fleet.
“I think there’s a lot of fear out there that the community’s not going to have a haulout come next summer. So this is becoming a very high priority,” White said.
